Safe and Sound
by Stelena-Beautiful
Summary: Sami and Rafe, post-RoboRafe. I don't know what else to say about it except that I hope you enjoy it.


**Safe and Sound**

_**I started this awhile ago but want to finish it so I'm bringing it over here to remind me. This is a short Sami/Rafe story. Basically, it takes place right after the debacle that was "RoboRafe". I didn't feel the writers dealt with that adequately so I am trying to myself. Maybe that's where Safe (a couple I adored!) started to go so wrong. Le sigh …**_

**Part 1**

He felt the distance, the chasm, between them growing a bit wider every day. Every time he tried to even hug her, she jumped away from him like he had scalded her very skin. And he had learned very quickly too that kissing her was out of the question. He had earned a slap for that offense. He was sure she blamed him for the imposter, for not protecting her the way he had sworn he always would. She had believed in him, trusted in his hollow promises, and he had failed her in every way. How was he ever going to make this up to her? How was he going to make her see how sorry he was? How was he supposed to ask her to forgive him when he couldn't even forgive himself?

000

He had moved out of their bedroom two weeks before. Not because she had asked him to - no, that would require her to actually speak to him - but because he felt he owed it to her. She obviously didn't want him around right now - maybe she would never want him around again. He hoped it wouldn't come to that because he was miserable without her. He wasn't Rafe without his Sami. They used to fight so passionately in the past and now they didn't even do that. It was just silence and the silence was deafening.

Tonight he was sitting in his room, sheets bunched up at his feet, trying to focus on reading the newspaper but he just couldn't relax. His concentration was completely fried and sleep was definitely out of the question as well. He was hyperaware of Sami in the next room and he wanted to go to her and hold her and say how sorry he was for failing her but he didn't dare. Instead he sighed and climbed out of bed, walking to the door and yanking it open.

He glanced at her closed door as he padded past it towards the kitchen but kept walking, not daring to bother her.

He put on a pot of coffee and waited as it percolated. He leaned against the counter just thinking of how he was going to make this huge mess right when suddenly the door to her room opened. She was standing there, dressed in long-sleeved, very matronly pajamas and her hair was rumpled and tangled and yet she had never looked quite so beautiful to him.

She stared at him for a long moment, her blue eyes troubled, but said nothing. All he could think to say in response to the potent silence was, "Coffee?"

She nodded and he started fixing her a cup as she watched, adding two creams and a little sugar just the way he knew she liked it. It was a shallow effort at best but she hadn't turned tail and run back into her room. Yet. That was something. It had to be a start. He sure as hell hoped so anyway.

000

"So ..." Rafe said as he watched her over the rim of his coffee cup.

"So ..." Sami said, watching him back over hers. She finally cleared her throat. "This is good."

"Sami?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm ... glad you like it." That's not what he had wanted to say at all but he sensed that he had to let her take her time. She hadn't run out on him yet - she was after all sitting at the table across from him - and so he wasn't going to sacrifice this little peace to have his say. He knew he was going to let her have to come around on her own terms. And when she did, he was going to be right there waiting.

Sami offered him a tired smile. "I do... It's uh, good..." She said again, dropping her eyes into her lap. Sami Brady-Hernandez at a loss for words. _Who would have ever thunk it?_ He mused as he watched her.

"So ... Uh, you're up late. Or early. However you want to put it."

Sami nodded. "Yeah ... I couldn't sleep. What about you?"

He nodded too. "Same."

Sami picked up her empty coffee cup and walked to the sink, setting it inside. "I'll take care of the dishes in the morning ..."

"Don't worry about it. I think I can manage the dishwasher, at least I hope so."

Sami nodded. "Well if you need help-"

"I need you," Rafe suddenly blurted out and mentally kicked the hell out of himself. "I didn't mean that."

Sami raised an eyebrow. Rafe coughed. "I mean, I did. But I'm not going to push you. I know you're angry with me and I don't blame you. I did fail you and -"

"Rafe, do you honestly think that's what this is about?" Sami asked, crossing her arms.

Rafe nodded. "You're angry with me. I just assumed -"

"You know what they say about assumptions," she said with a flash of a smile before it was gone again and wariness settled in for winter.

"Yeah I do," Rafe said splaying his hands. "But I'm lost. Why won't you let me be there for you - let me make things right?"

"Cause you can't, Rafe, don't you get it?" Sami asked, her voice abnormally loud in the quiet house. If she was worried about waking the kids, it didn't show. All he could see was her frustration and heartbreak then. "Things won't be right again. They can't be. You - you have his face. The man who violated me. That's what it was. A violation... I've thought a lot about it. It was rape. I've been through that enough."

"Sami... It didn't occur to me. I guess I didn't want it to. But I'm not him, Sami, I'm not. I would never hurt you like that."

"I know that," Sami said. "Logically I do. But I'm ..." Her voice trailed off. "It's just going to take some time, I guess. Give me that."

Rafe nodded. "I will. Definitely. However much you need."

Sami sighed and tears misted her big blue eyes. "In the meantime, I think it's best if we keep our distance."

"We live in the same house ..." Rafe nodded then, understanding. "Oh. Okay. I'll be out of here in the morning."

"I'm sorry, Rafe," Sami said. "I do love you. It's just so hard right now."

"Don't apologize. You know what's best for you and I swear I'll honor that. You have been pushed around enough."

Sami nodded. Then she had turned on her heels and disappeared into her room, shutting the door resoundingly after her. Rafe watched her go and felt his own heart breaking. He wished he could change Sami's mind but he knew she deserved better than to be hassled by him of all people. He would move out and hope one day, if he waited long enough, she would return to him.

_**To be continued**_


End file.
